Well, I finally got behind the wheel of one of Interstate's big green trucks for a drive test today. First I had to ride in the sleeper and observe a student driver take his final road test following OTR training. This poor guy could not back a trailer to save his life. They have you back around a corner and into a designated spot painted on the ground. This guy tried and tried and tried. He never did get it into the hole.

Later I did my road test. On the drive I lost one point. It was the first time I had driven an autoshift. The first stop I came to I forgot I had to depress the clutch. I didn't kill the engine. But, it was a pretty rough stop! After the road portion it was back to the yard for backing. I did the same maneuver the other guy couldn't get on my first attempt with only one pull up (the guy wasn't there). The instructor just looked at me and said "very nicely done!" Made my whole day!

It doesn't get any better than that! I'm living my dream.

 

That's cool Rick.
So tell me how your physical went, what was done?
Did they give you a set date to start training?

Did a 3 way call with my friend that works for them and Doug.
Talked about my friend training me (if I decide to go with them)
He got the ok, just needs to take a course before hand.

So that's kinda nice, I can be trained by someone I know.
The only thing that bugs me is the auto shifts they have.
I know when I decide to go local I'll need the experience with a manual transmission. So still bouncing that back and forth.

 

i still dont like that autoslop.we keep a 10 speed in the mill for pre-loading and i drive one when when the auto truck is being serviced. some times i forget to shift into 10th. just enough floating gears to remain proficient. we have drivers who refuse to drive an auto.you could try that after your 90 days probation is up.it would be more effective after a year.
when my last trainee was crunching gears i drove and simplifyed things by showing her how long i could hang out in neutral before going into gear.those macks respond to shifting slowly.

 

All they wanted was a copy of my current medical card. Only one guy in our group didn't have one. They sent him to get a physical. so, if you have a current card, you're good to go! The autoshift is really cool. Now, I'm not a young hotshot. But, at 50, I like it. I can concentrate on driving and hitting my marks without dividing my concentration on shifting.

Its great that you can be trained by your buddy. That should make training a really fun experience. BOL!

 

when your at the yards getting serviced or what ever tell them you need to run a 10 or 13 speed. you probably wind up doing some local job but it takes time to gain the skill seamlessly.